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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28709493">Steve tries, he really does</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/parabatri/pseuds/parabatri'>parabatri</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Unrelated Stony Ficlets [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkward Flirting, Cute, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Flirting, M/M, No Angst, Steve can’t flirt, Steve has no brain to mouth filter, Tony gets awkward for like a second, poor baby tries</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:55:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>943</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28709493</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/parabatri/pseuds/parabatri</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><em><br/><span> He tried, he really did. (Not to be impulsive but you’re literally the most attractive man I’ve ever met. Sometimes I can’t decide if I’m more attracted to your voice or your face. And your brains make you that much sexier.)</span><br/></em><br/><span></span><br/> <br/>“Thanks Tony. You’re mildly decent.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Steve Rogers/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Unrelated Stony Ficlets [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2114145</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>78</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Steve tries, he really does</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first Stony work!! I’m so excited to get it out there. I feel like I haven’t written in forever and I really enjoyed this short thing!</p><p>My writing for this feels different than the way I used to write but I think I like it.</p><p>Hopefully with this, I can get my love for writing back. Hope you enjoy!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">If there’s one thing Steve had come to accept after coming out of the ice, it was that he didn’t know how to return a compliment. Sure he had never been the best at it before but he was downright dreadful at it now.</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">Shortly after being cleared to leave the SHEILD facility, he had been taking a walk around Brooklyn to really get a feel of the changes. On his way back into the compound a slightly red-faced woman had stopped in front of him and all but stumbled.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“I think you’re incredibly handsome and I can see why my grandma was so enamored with you.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">And he tried, he really did but all that came out was: “Uh- I- Ye- Thank . . . you.” And then he was fleeing the scene.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">The woman had been the first of many people stopping him. All the compliments about the same thing. And Steve tried, he really did, but every time his responses came out jumbled and stuttered.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">And the first time it had been a man, Steve all but fainted from the mortification of his response. <em>(“Wha- You- I- Um- A man!”)</em></span>
</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">So it was safe to say that Steve had given up responding to the compliments. None of his responses ever came out the way they were intended. He accepted the fact that he could not </span> <em> <span class="s2">flirt.</span></em></p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">And then Tony Stark happened.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">Tony threw compliments at Steve in almost every conversation, never stuttering his way through them, with the straightest face anyone’s held in front of Steve in a while. He never did anything other than continue to talk after the words left his lips and it left Steve a little . . . surprised.</span>
</p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">Surprised because he came to realize the reason he always felt a little off kilter around Tony after his . . . compliments was because he had a small, tiny, just a little bit of a crush on the man. <em>(Contrary to what the media had said about Steve being a little behind on the times, Steve had looked up </em></span> <em> <span class="s2">gay</span> <span class="s1"> online. He was very much surprised to see it was practically normal these days. And if he felt a little bit of the pressure on his shoulders deplete from that, that’s his business.)</span></em></p><p class="p3"><span class="s1">With the realization of his moderate </span> <span class="s1">crush on Tony, he really tried his best to formulate a response to all the flirting Tony threw his way. <em>(Spoiler alert: he really really stood no chance.)</em></span></p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“Nice fighting out there today, Spangles. Gotta say, I almost crashed and burned a few times though. That suit upgrade does wonders for that ass.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“That is America’s ass.” Scott of course.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“Well America has one fine ass for show and tell. But I’ve gotta say, nothing beats America’s face.” And Tony was giving Steve his signature smile.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">He tried, he really did. <em>(Not to be impulsive but you’re literally the most attractive man I’ve ever met. Sometimes I can’t decide if I’m more attracted to your voice or your face. And your brains make you that much sexier.)</em> “Thanks Tony. You’re mildly decent.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">It was silent.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“Mildly decent? That’s it? Oh come on! I’ve been complimenting you for months now and all I get in return is ‘mildly decent’?” Tony threw his hands in the air and gave him an appalled look.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">Steve opened his mouth but nothing was coming out and so he shut it again.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“Oh man this is comedy genius. Never thought I’d see the day where Tony gets a compliment back from Steve only to be called ‘mildly decent’.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“Honeybear, don’t you dare,” Tony gave him a look.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“Lo- I mean- I- You-.” Steve should really just stop trying.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“You’re really fucking attractive and I honestly forgot how to speak for a second there.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">Oh god, did he just say that?</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“Oh my god, this just keeps getting better.” And Rhodes was laughing. “As funny as I believe this is going to get, maybe the rest of us can leave the two of you alone.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">And more silence.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">When the others finally disappeared from view (some still laughing), Steve shifted from one foot to the other, shield held in front of him to try and hide him from view.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“So I’m ‘really fucking attractive’ and you ‘forgot how to speak’ is it?” Tony drawled.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“Uh- I- You- Um- . . . yes.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">Tony walked towards his slowly and Steve kept his eyes locked towards the ground. “So all my other attempts of flirting with you went unanswered because you ‘forgot how to speak’?”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“Uh . . . yes.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“Interesting.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">Silence.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“So you’re totally okay with the flirting? Because to be honest I don’t think I’ve thrown this many compliments at anyone else before. I thought the attempts just weren’t sticking.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“I- It’s- Yeah. I’m fin- I’m totally okay with the flirting.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“Wow. You just keep stumbling over words.” The unfiltered awe clearly present in his voice.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“I can’t be the first one.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“No, definitely not the first,” Tony paused, “but by far the hottest.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">Steve’s mind blanked for a second. “H- Hottest?”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“Oh yes. You shouldn’t be that surprised. I mean, I have been flirting with you for the better part of the past 8 months.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“You- I- Wow.”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah,” and he looked smitten. “So it’s safe to assume that if I were to ask you for, oh, I don’t know, say, a date? You’d say yes?”</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">Steve mouth opened but no words came out so instead he nodded.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">“Well that great. Good. Ah, super. Wow.” Tony put one of the suit covered hands on his reactor.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  <span class="s1">And for a brief second Steve felt the stumbling of his mind clear. And he said, “Yeah. A date sounds fantastic.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Shoutout to the Put On The Suit discord!</p><p>Seeing all the positivity there reminded me why I started writing in the first place back in 7th grade.</p><p>If you enjoy, consider <a href="https://ko-fi.com/parabatrii">supporting</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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